Cummings still shelved after offseason knee surgery

HOUSTON – Omar Cummings’ road back from knee surgery is going to take longer than originally expected.

The Houston Dynamo forward went under the knife to repair a right knee injury on January 25 and, initially, the recovery time was thought to be 4-to-6 weeks. Nearly five weeks into his rehab, it looks like that estimate was a bit optimistic.

“I think right around six weeks I should be getting back on the field,” Cummings said after Tuesday’s training session. “How much game ready I’m going to be, I’ll have to work on fitness and that will be up to the coaching staff. Hopefully, by next week I’ll be touching the ball.”

This week marked progress for Cummings as he began fitness work. He is relegated to running and building strength in his knee for now, hoping to work his way up to cutting and making sharper movements.

“I’m feeling better. Last week was good, week before wasn’t so great,” Cummings said. “Coming into this week, we wanted to push it a little more by doing some runs. … So far, so good.”

While it's progress, game action seems to be something that will have to wait for a few weeks at least, meaning no home opener – Houston host D.C. United on Saturday (8 pm ET; NBC Sports Network) – for the newest Dynamo forward.

“It’s a bit of a downer,” Cummings said. “Home openers have always been great, I love openers, but the focus has to be on getting back on the field. Until I’m back practicing, I can’t even talk about games. So that’s my goal now.”